Tuesday 15 January, 2008

Log 2
Gameplay:
The second time I played the game was when I fought the boss. I thought it was unique to fight the boss with the upgraded hook shot I found in the water dungeon. It fits perfectly because the boss was a water tenticle that had a brain controlling it.To defeat it was to hook shot the brain out of the water and attack it with your sword. It was quite challenging because the brain move in many directions and dodged Links hookshot attack. I then discovered that whenever the boss attacks, the brain gets closer to Link, thus an easier hook shot attack.
Once I defeated the boss they gave me a clue to where my next quest would be. Then I was transported out of the water dungeon into the front gate. I enjoyed the freedom of the three dimentional world of Hyrule that gives me a sense of freedom. I did not have go straight to the next dungeon,(I did not know where it was located), so instead I decide to explore. I ended up playing the mini game where Link gets to fish. This is just one of the examples of how much you can do in one game.

Design:
From previous years of playing Ocarina of Time, I relized that the game gets more and more challenging. As you start if with Young Link, the enemies are easy and does not require much thinking or skill to kill them. Also the earlier dungeons are not as long and the puzzles are pretty much straight forward. Once Link travels through time, the enemies evolve into bigger and stronger evils. Although, Link gets new weapons and spells as he goes along his quest which make it easier for him to fight the enemies. The weapons also expands the players puzzles because with more weapons, the more ways a player can solve a puzzle. The evolution in this game makes it interesting because it keeps the game from being the same boring rules. It is like playing a new game every time.
Like what I said before, the freedom a player gets when they walk around Hyrule. The map is so big that it is like walking on another world. An extra that comes with the big world is all of the mini games that are scattered. You can walk from town to town and each of them have their unique little challenges such as shooting, race against time, swimming, fishing, and much more. There are also a lot of easter egg hunting. A player can collect many things when they kill an enemy or hidden areas all around the Hyrule world. It is like controlling another persons life all in your hands. This is why Ocarina of time made best seller for 1998.

You bring up good points about the scope of the game, such as being able to explore around Hyrule and talking about the minigames. However, I'd like more about how that impacts the design of the game. There were a few spelling and grammatical errors here or there, so you might want to proofread before posting. For future entries please space out the paragraphs to make them easier to read.


- David Seagal (Grader)